Field/project development

Structured Project-Management Approach Accelerates Marginal Field Development

This paper reviews lean construction management processes adopted in the Apani Field development, from facility design to construction management and drilling-location preparation.

Fig. 1—Reinforcement for suspended cellar slab.
Fig. 1—Reinforcement for suspended cellar slab.
Source: SPE 221800.

The complete paper reviews the lean-construction-management processes adopted in Nigeria’s Apani field, describing the oil and gas execution phase and examining the field’s asset-development plan. The findings of this paper are expected to provide an understanding of how new oil and gas assets (including predrilled and plugged wellheads) should be effectively recovered and developed.

Apani Marginal-Field Development Phase

The Apani field is onshore in the Niger Delta sedimentary basin in the southern part of OML53. The Apani-01 well was subsequently plugged and abandoned in 2006.

The Apani marginal-field asset-development plan, culminating in drillsite-location preparation, adopted an unconventional approach during the project-execution phase because of challenges inherent in recovering predrilled and plugged wellheads 10 m below ground level. The engineering and project team established that it was important to determine optimal engineering conditions for design and construction, a process that took into consideration rig-equipment footprint, cumulative load analysis of rig sub- and superstructure, auxiliary equipment unit-by-unit load calculations, vibration analysis, stress analysis, general arrangement layout, and materials selection.

The first Apani drillsite-location preparation, in Rivers State, was implemented on a fast-track schedule and achieved first oil production within 4 months of project sanction. The authors’ engineering and project team ensured that the project followed a methodology equivalent to project-management body-of-knowledge (PMBOK) recommended practices.

One of the main project challenges during the drillsite-location preparation phase was the short amount of time available to acquire critical supplies and equipment.

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